


The Waltz of the Snowflakes

by orangelemon (etoilephilante)



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Historical, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Historical Inaccuracy, M/M, but warning this is not a nutcracker au, christmas au btw, i just wrote this bc jongjoong sexy and the nutcracker sexy so i had to do something, i'm tagging bullshit bc i don't have anything interesting to tag really, just read this or don't i missed chirstmas anyways, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 08:08:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28348176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilephilante/pseuds/orangelemon
Summary: Hongjoong clasps his hands tight behind his back, suddenly uncertain.‘Sir Jongho, you have been greatly missed, here.’Jongho’s face is perhaps less round, his cheeks less child-like, but ultimately, he’s the same man. His charcoal, bottomless eyes still wander on Hongjoong’s features with a barely concealed flood of feelings.‘I hope the one I have missed the most, missed me the most, as well,’ Jongho says, his voice both velvet and liquor, and the delicacy of the sound makes Hongjoong drunk before he even has to taste it.(Jongho left Hongjoong with an unanswered question, six months later, he is given an answer and a new question as a Christmas gift.)
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kim Hongjoong
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	The Waltz of the Snowflakes

**Author's Note:**

> context : it's xmas, i haven't written any jongjoong fic in AGES which is unacceptable, my love for period dramas is unconditional
> 
> it's not set anywhere or anytime precise??? well my head was thinking russia during the 19th century but that's bc i was listening to the nutcracker. is there a movie adaptation other than the barbie movie?? bc that would be embarrassing if what i imagine while listening to tchaikovsky really is a barbie movie. anyway that's why i chose this title, jongjoong are no snowflakes and don't even dance in this
> 
> also the plot doesn't have anything to do with the nutcracker why did i talk abt it so much in this note
> 
> I'm gonna be real honest with u chief I'm not too happy with this one but I'll look at it better tomorrow after a good night of sleep
> 
> also yes it's unbeta-ed huuuuh we die like men?? 
> 
> well enjoy xmas jongjoong

Hongjoong diverts his gaze away from the scene where the little swans are dancing in near-perfect harmony to look towards another balcony on the opposite side of the theater's second floor. He smiles when he spots Jongho behind the countess, staring right back at him. As per usual, the man’s handsomeness is breathtaking, discreet and almost forgettable at first glance, incredibly charming and enticing the more any soul looks at him. Even in the dim lights, he is dreamlike, his dark eyes glimmering and the stage’s blue lights cast a shadow that almost gives him an arrogant and smug air, but the kindness that creases the corners of his lips denies it entirely.

‘My dear Hongjoong, hopefully, you will be able to paint his portrait without looking at him once from how much staring you have done tonight,’ a teasing murmur makes itself heard near the young man’s ear, bringing a scarlet stain to the apple of his cheeks.

‘I’ve had to paint him from memory the past few months. Let me relish in the beauty of the real thing.’

Seonghwa chuckles, moving away from him to concentrate his eyes back on the ballet. ‘Then what are you still doing here? I’m sure he’ll follow you outside if you leave. Believe me, it won’t go unnoticed by him. I bet he has yet to realize the show has begun at all.’

It barely takes him a second to take on Seonghwa’s suggestion.

‘Then!’ Hongjoong grins at his friend and jumps to his feet, quickly bowing to the prince and his fiance, who giggles behind his hand at Hongjoong’s lovesick antics, ‘I shall take my leave for now. I’ll visit you sometime tomorrow, old friends.’ He does not even take the time to let them acknowledge his farewells that he’s turning on his heels to rush to the reception hall.

‘Would you look at that, Prince Seonghwa? Sir Jongho seems to be bidding his farewell to the countess already,’ Yeosang whispers with laughter bubbling in his deep voice, leaning into Seonghwa’s steady shoulders.

Seonghwa snorts, sending an amused glance to his fiance as he intertwines their fingers together. ‘They’re ridiculous.’

The hall is filled with glitters and golden tinsels hanging from the high walls. Hongjoong almost feels like he’s trapped in one of his elegant fairy tale book's illustrations when he’s waiting at the foot of a magnificent pine tree that stands almost as tall as a tower in the middle of the theater’s hall. Glass bulbs reflect reds and greens through the tree’s thick branches. It covers the luxurious place with a magical shimmering veil. All around him, gigantic present boxes surround the base of the Christmas tree, colorful, sparkly. As if the beauty of the adornments wasn’t enough, whenever the doormen open the doors, chiming bells and distant carols slip inside the theater to weave through the laughter of the few people vagabonding inside the hall.

It is truly a wonder to see, to feel, this warmth when the coldest season of the year has just started, Hongjoong thinks, even when anticipation as his heart racing and his blood rush to all his extremities, making him all numb.

‘Hongjoong…’ It is a sigh, a breath, more than a call, yet Hongjoong hears it all the same, and there’s barely a beat before he turns around, sees Jongho’s round and manly face, and smiles like finally, he has learned how to breathe again.

His fingertips stop tingling, and he feels light, so light, that he doesn’t know if it is an impulse or a traitorous breeze that nearly push him into Jongho’s arms – he stops when he’s just a breath away from him when he can already feel all the heat of his body. Hongjoong clasps his hands tight behind his back, suddenly uncertain.

‘Sir Jongho, you have been greatly missed, here.’

Jongho’s face is perhaps less round, his cheeks less child-like, but ultimately, he’s the same man. His charcoal, bottomless eyes still wander on Hongjoong’s features with a barely concealed flood of feelings.

‘I hope the one I have missed the most, missed me the most, as well,’ Jongho says, his voice both velvet and liquor, and the delicacy of the sound makes Hongjoong drunk before he even has to taste it.

Seconds stretch into half a minute during which they scrutinize each other with curiosity and modesty, and then Hongjoong inhales sharply, seemingly woken up of his daze. ‘The heat is so stifling here!’ he exclaims to give himself time to regain his composure, breaking this loaded staring contest to look towards the doors. ‘Should we go somewhere else?’

Jongho merely smiles knowingly and offers his arm to the older man.

Snow is falling onto the white city when a doorman opens the door for Jongho and Hongjoong with a nod and a merry Christmas wish. Despite the biting cold that immediately burns the tip of their noses, the chiming bells are now close enough to make it look like the snowflakes are dancing in their fall, and the tall buildings’ lights are painting dazzling colors into the virgin snow canvas that coats the paved ground, making them stop in wonder.

‘How marvelous, the snow has come just in time to celebrate Christmas,’ Hongjoong laughs, mesmerized, behind his gloved hands. Strong palms press into his shoulders and make him jump, then blush as Jongho tightens the collar of Hongjoong’s coat, lined with fur, around his neck.

‘A beautiful sight, indeed,’ Jongho whispers into the shell of the older man’s ear, sending shivers to his spine and making him feel like he’s burning. ‘Where to?’

A sudden nervousness makes Hongjoong shrink into his thick coat. ‘I have a present for you, at home…’ he is quick to explain further when he meets Jongho’s surprised gaze, ‘I hoped you would come back for Christmas…’

When Jongho was sent nearly six months ago to the other side of their large kingdom to do his service, no one could give them a return date. However, the country not being shaken by war and himself having been left with a question he had never been able to provide an answer for, Hongjoong had wished long hours into the December nights for Jongho’s return.

The officer’s surprised owlish eyes turn into crescents, endeared when he hears all the words Hongjoong’s keep silent in his confession. ‘I could use a warm drink near a fireplace.’

Hongjoong can’t bring himself to stop staring at Jongho, not even when he’s merely calling a hansom cab over, not even when he gently pulls him inside the car, not even when he instructs the way to the coachman. He almost hears the Waltz of the Snowflakes’ tune into the buzz of the busy city, he sees the snow transform into ballerinas and twirls around them. Jongho, whose figure seems to have become so broad and protective, is a Nutcracker charged with leading him into an enchanting world.

‘I never imagined a day would come where you would stop avoiding to look at my way, and now you’re looking as though I will disappear if you divert your eyes.’ Jongho’s remark pulls Hongjoong back down to Earth, helpless and with a flush spreading inside his whole body. Yet, he does not move his fascinated gaze away.

‘Having grown accustomed to your presence, I think I had never realized how far my affection for you goes until you left,’ Hongjoong admits, the crease in his eyebrows showing timidity and his voice nothing more than a murmur, despite the boldness of his words.

Jongho’s hand around Hongjoong squeezes with strength, and it is what makes him notice the grip he himself has around the young officer’s fingers. Jongho opens and closes his mouth like he has trouble breathing, but no words slip past his dry lips while the cab slowly comes to a stop. Hongjoong tries to hide his laughter behind a soft cough at the silly way Jongho is acting, but can’t help but burst into a loud fit of giggles when Jongho startles as the coachman open the door for them.

‘Merry Christmas, sirs!’ the man calls out behind them, to which Hongjoong answers with a smile and a nod, while Jongho remains in a silent daze.

They’re still on the frozen front steps to Hongjoong’s home when Jongho eventually regains his spirits.

‘Hongjoong,’ he whispers like a plea, ‘Hongjoong,’ he repeats like a chant, ‘Hongjoong. I always think you are indifferent to my obvious feelings, and then, every time I am ready to give up, your words never fail to bring the fire back to life.’

Hongjoong turns skeptical pupils down at the officer, a step below him, but his grin turns mischievous.

‘Here I am, with my Prince Charming waxing eloquent at my feet,’ Hongjoong takes great pleasure into imagining the scarlet of Jongho’s cheeks isn’t due only to the cold, ‘You have waited so long, won’t you wait until we are inside now?’

‘I love you!’

The confession, expected, still comes as a surprise to them both and echoes and ricochet between them, leaving them once again stunned in the middle of a snowflake ball.

Jongho’s usual gentle yet firm voice is choked and husky when he continues. ‘I love you this much that I can let one more second pass by without knowing your answer.’

‘I thought it was clear in my letters.’ His own surprise subdues as well to leave him fond, touched by the way Jongho bares his feelings, raw, at him.

‘I am desperate to hear them. I am desperate to believe in their sincerity.’

Hongjoong goes a step down to fully face the younger man, taking both of his hands in his. He kisses the leather of the gloves that cover Jongho’s knuckles before he speaks again, while Jongho’s mouth is parted, letting his breath get taken away.

He thinks of the hope shining inside Jongho’s pupils months ago when his childhood friend asked him to consider his feelings while he was gone. And then, he thinks of the slight shake he read in Jongho’s handwriting in the letter he wrote back to Hongjoong’s tacit admission that his absence had opened many doors to many realizations.

‘I love you.’ The words are swallowed by Jongho’s full lips with urgency, as though he is afraid to let them fly away.

Hongjoong’s lashes flutter shut, despite the kiss remaining chaste and lasting no more than a fleeting moment, and he keeps his eyes closed when they part, shivering under the sensation that Jongho’s warm and harsh breath leave against his face.

‘If… If you’re not so desperate anymore,’ Hongjoong’s tone is thin, fragile, as he slowly opens his eyes to take in the sight of Jongho’s adoring eyes on him, ‘we could go inside, and I could give you your present, and this time, you would be the one left to answer a question. Hopefully, before you leave again.’

Under the elegantly ornamented tree near the fireplace, surrounded by the scent of burning wood and decorative holly, on the 23rd of December, Jongho takes no time to hesitate before he answers a stunned yes to the ring Hongjoong gifts him as an early Christmas present.

**Author's Note:**

> *youtuber voice* comment and click on the like button down below if you liked this. have a nice new year's eve, stay warm, and wear your masks!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/mingiopom) / [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/etoilephilante)


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